Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: 33rd Floor (3)
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Seymour's face hardened the moment he saw me.
His expression was like he'd just spotted a ghost.
His gaze locked onto my face and wouldn't let go.
“…You're really the Sage. But how…?”
Seymour stammered.
“Fifteen years have passed. And yet you haven't aged a day. You look exactly the same as back then….”
I scratched my cheek, feeling awkward.
Fifteen years. More than enough time for an ordinary human to go from middle age to old.
But my appearance hadn't changed at all since I first met Seymour.
No wonder he was shocked.
“Could it be that you're a being unbound by the flow of time?”
“No, nothing like that….”
The knights around us widened their eyes at Seymour's question.
I shrugged lightly, cutting off their amazement.
“Come on, we can talk about that after we've made a clean escape from here, right? Let's move for now.”
At my practical words, Seymour and the knights snapped back to reality.
This wasn't the time to stand around.
They helped each other up.
Fortunately, no one seemed to have serious injuries.
“Sandworm?”
[The Sandworm protests that it is not public transportation.]
[It insists it can't carry unqualified passengers.]
“How picky.”
With no other choice, I decided to get out the same way we'd come in.
“Everyone, get ready.”
I approached the knights and started handing out handfuls of sand to each one.
“Rub this all over your bodies thoroughly. From your hair to your toes—don't miss the gaps in your armor or the folds in your clothes.”
The knights looked baffled.
But no one questioned me.
They'd already witnessed magic that defied common sense with their own eyes.
The knights followed my instructions without a word.
Once everyone was ready, I closed my eyes and focused my mana.
Mirage.
My head throbbed instantly.
Making more than ten people invisible at once was a bigger strain than I'd expected.
The space around us shimmered faintly.
It wasn't perfect like with Sharon and me.
If you looked closely, you could see the air distort slightly whenever we moved.
Like heat haze on a summer day.
‘Damn, with this many people, it's definitely a burden.’
I grumbled inwardly.
‘Still, this should be fine. It's dark outside….’
I tried to reassure myself.
Meanwhile, the knights gasped in awe as their bodies vanished.
“Whoa…! We're gone!”
“This is the legendary Sage's magic….”
Quiet exclamations erupted here and there.
The prisoners stared wondrously at their transparent hands.
“Alright, let's head out. Sharon, lead the way.”
“Yes, net!”
Sharon began guiding us again.
We followed the escape route she'd planned in advance.
Fortunately, her plan was solid.
The escape went incredibly smoothly.
We barely ran into any orcs.
And our bodies were invisible.
Imperfect as it was, the darkness hid the subtle distortions just fine.
It happened just as we neared the escape point.
Pweeeeeeee—!
A shrill horn pierced the night's silence.
The entire fortress erupted in chaos.
Torches lit up everywhere, and orc shouts echoed.
They'd realized we'd escaped.
“Damn it!”
Seymour muttered under his breath.
Anxiety spread across the knights' faces.
“Everyone, run!”
Sharon shouted.
The knights squeezed out their last reserves of strength and bolted for the exit.
But their speed was no match for the pursuing orcs.
Even with the invisibility spell, it was only a matter of time before they caught us.
“Sage, hurry…!”
Sharon called urgently.
But instead of running, I stopped in place.
I dropped the invisibility and revealed myself.
“I'll stay behind alone. You all go first.”
Sharon and Seymour whipped around in shock at my words. Seymour cried out.
“But…!”
“No buts. This is an order. Wasn't I the operations commander? Or was it you, Sharon? Anyway, go. I'll buy you time.”
I waved them off impatiently.
Seymour and the knights hesitated.
Leaving their benefactor alone in danger went against a knight's honor.
But they all knew.
This was the only way for everyone to survive.
In the end, Seymour bowed his head.
“This debt… I will repay it, no matter what.”
He spoke briefly, then shouted to the other knights.
“To the cliff! Full speed!”
The knights turned with respectful glances toward me.
Sharon looked back at me with teary eyes.
“Sage, you must survive!”
“Don't worry—just take good care of your father.”
I grinned at her.
Sharon bit her lip and ran toward the cliff.
Soon, they vanished into the darkness.
“Right. I need to retrieve Chogoki and the flag….”
After confirming they'd completely left my sight.
I scanned the surroundings briefly.
Chogoki and the flag, which I'd left waiting at the escape point beforehand because they didn't suit stealth operations.
Sure enough, I found them nearby quickly.
Chogoki, who had been crouched down playing in the dirt, nimbly hopped onto my shoulder.
“When does this quest end exactly?”
Once they're fully escaped?
Or after wiping out all the orcs in this canyon?
Either way, the 30th floor's story continues into the next.
For the next floor, it'd be better to take down as many as possible.
“If I'm doing it, might as well do it thoroughly….”
I slowly positioned myself in the middle of the pass.
Sheer canyons loomed on both sides.
“Mirage.”
I activated the Mirage skill again.
This time, it wasn't to hide myself.
I created an illusion of the flag.
And made it bigger. Bigger still.
Enormous, filling the entire canyon entrance.
The golden hourglass emblem glowed.
The flag shone like a massive lighthouse in the darkness.
“The rightful ruler of the Great War, the Sand-Eater….”
I cranked the flag's amplification function to full blast.
Well, it only carried within a 10-meter radius, but still.
Atmosphere matters.
Finally, the vanguard of the orc pursuit reached the canyon entrance.
The orcs hesitated at the sight of the massive flag.
But soon they realized it was just me standing beneath it.
“Grraaaaa!”
The lead orc chieftain roared and charged to shove me aside.
I smirked coldly and slammed my staff into the ground.
The entire canyon began to rumble.
Kugugugugugu—!
A deafening roar like the world turning upside down.
The canyon screamed as it collapsed.
The sheer cliffs on both sides poured inward like massive waves.
Tons of earth rained down on the orcs.
“Gr… grraaaaa?!”
The screams were brief.
Before the wrath of nature, resistance meant nothing.
The orcs vanished without a trace into the massive landslide.
Hundreds of orcs buried in an instant.
I looked down on the scene with satisfaction.
“Hm?”
Then, something caught my eye.
An orc was desperately clawing its way out from between the debris.
It had survived by sheer luck, being on the edge and swept by the wave.
It trembled in a daze, staring at the catastrophe before it.
I approached it slowly.
And thrust the flag in my hand right in its face.
“See it clearly. And tell everyone.”
The orc's terrified eyes darted between me and the flag.
“Any orc who sees this flag from now on will die.”
The orc let out an incomprehensible shriek and fled like mad.
The sole survivor vanished into the darkness without looking back.
Then, the system message appeared.
[You have completed the quest 'Prisoner Rescue.']
[Congratulations on clearing Tower 33rd Floor (EXTREME).]
[First Clear Bonus applied!]
[Ranking 1st Bonus applied!]
[Acquired title: [Orc Calamity].]
[Relationship with NPC 'Seymour' changed to [Life Savior].]
[Relationship with NPC 'Sharon' changed to [Absolute Trust].]
And finally, a dazzling light poured from the flag in my hand.
[Item 'Flag of Beginnings' has evolved to 'Flag of the Ruler.']
***
The first thing to do after leaving the tower was set.
Turn on the computer.
Nothing was more important than sharing my feat with the world.
I opened the Mage Gallery with practiced ease.
My fingers automatically hit the new post button.
With the prosthetic hands giving me ten fingers again, I'd regained my peak typing speed.
“Next time, I should take some NPC photos.”
[Title: That NPC Sharon was pretty cute]
[Author: Anon (7F7.7Y7)]
[Sharon's the ranger who plans the Seymour rescue, right?
Pretty face, big chest—kinda grew on me….
Feels like I built up some solid affinity this time. Does she show up again?]
ㄴpkketchu: What's with liking big chests??
ㄴfridge: (Not easy, huh con)
Just the reaction I'd expected.
But then, a weird comment popped up.
ㄴ마법은화력: Sharon? Who's that?
ㄴ마법은화력: Was there an NPC by that name in the 30s floors quest? I remember Seymour.
“Huh?”
I tilted my head.
Was I misremembering?
No way.
ㄴAnon (7F7.7Y7): She said she was Seymour's daughter?
ㄴ마법은화력: Oh, right. But she's supposed to be dead by the midpoint?
ㄴbeetle: Yeah, now that you mention it. If you build affinity with Seymour, he spills the story later.
What?
A character who's already dead at the midpoint?
This was completely different from what I'd experienced.
“No wonder I didn't remember seeing her on the NPC list….”
Suddenly, all the pieces fell into place.
Before entering the 30s floors, I'd definitely checked the NPC info.
There hadn't been a single mention of a helper NPC named Sharon.
ㄴbeetle: So you went to a timeline where Sharon's alive now?
ㄴ냉장고: More like you entered before she dies, from our perspective.
ㄴ냉장고: She's dead by the time we get there in normal play…. But you intervened in that gap?
I nodded.
Fridge made sense.
That brought up a new question.
“So what happens if I save Sharon?”
I didn't know when she dies.
She might already be dead on the very next floor.
But if we meet again?
If my choices let me save her?
How would the story change?
My head started aching from the complex thoughts.
That's when Fridge dropped a new comment.
ㄴ냉장고: Oh, and I picked up two interesting bits at the conference this time.
ㄴ냉장고: One's the true nature of the magic in the magic battery.
ㄴ냉장고: The second is that the tower's changed. Specifically, elves and dwarves have appeared in the 10s and 20s floors.